5 Things Millennials Hate About Corporate Recruiters

By Andrew Stockburger on March 23 2016

Say what you will about Millennials — that they’re entitled, that they’re
lazy, that they’re rude, etc. etc. If you look at
what’s going on in the labor market, it’s becoming harder and harder for
companies to avoid hiring them. You can either adapt or fall behind.

If you find dealing with Millennial applicants frustrating, the feeling is
definitely mutual. The fact is that the hiring strategies that worked in the
past are not going to work for everyone. When employers ignore cultural
differences, they’ll easily end up rubbing Millennials the wrong way. You might
be making some big mistakes without even knowing it.

Now what are those mistakes? Let’s look at five mistakes you can make with
Millennial applicants.

Mistake #1: Don’t maintain a
functional website

Millennials are a tech-savvy generation.
Many of them don’t remember a time without the Internet, grew up with a
computer in their homes, and have owned a cell phone for most of their lives.
Technologies that seem new to you are not so new to them.

One of the most important resources employers have for reaching applicants
is their websites. For Millennials, a company without a website might as well
not exist, and even then it’s not enough to just have a website. If it’s not
easy to use, expect to have plenty of applicants look elsewhere. This counts
for mobile sites as well, since a vast majority of Millennials own smartphones
and use them in their job searches.

Mistake #2: Make the recruiting process long and
tedious

You absolutely want to make
the right hiring decision for your company. You want to know for sure that
the person you hire is qualified, competent, and agreeable. However, there’s
a limit to how careful you can be. Millennials absolutely hate long
recruitment processes and find them stressful and draining.
You need to do everything possible to cut the fat from your process and
include only what’s necessary. If your application form is too long (or if
your job site is clunky), plenty of potential candidates won’t apply at all.
If your interview process stretches too long, expect plenty of candidates to
drop out for another offer. There’s really no advantage to making your
recruitment process too long.

Mistake #3: Don’t address what Millennials
want

A paycheck isn’t the only thing
Millennials are looking for in a job. Money is certainly a priority, but
an employer with little to offer beyond that is going to have trouble
attracting and keeping younger employees.

What is your health plan?Do you offer flexible hours? What about PTO? What opportunities for career development do you
offer?
Benefits beyond pay will
attract Millennial candidates and keep them loyal to the company.

Mistake #4: Don’t say anything about company
culture

Your applicants know what
you’re offering, but what about the people they’ll be working with?
Millennials are very interested in workplace culture and are more likely
to choose an employer that offers a collaborative work
environment.

You should give applicants a chance to see the
day-to-day life at your company and meet with your team. It’s also good to
promote any volunteering and social events your company offers.

Mistake #5: Leave applicants in the dark

What do you do when a candidate
isn’t the right fit? In the past you could just set the application aside
and move on, but for Millennials that’s not acceptable. If you need to
turn down an applicant, you should send a rejection notice as soon as
possible. As counterintuitive as it seems, a rejection notice actually
builds good will for your company. The alternative — never speaking to
the applicant again — sends a message you’d rather avoid.